• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Monday, January 25, 2021
32 °f
Platte
20 ° Wed
25 ° Thu
38 ° Fri
42 ° Sat
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Aldermen ‘entitled to know what’s going on’

Debbie Coleman-Topi by Debbie Coleman-Topi
October 2, 2020
in Headlines
Parkville Alderman Dave Rittman

Dave Rittman, Parkville alderman

27
SHARES
685
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Parkville board member Dave Rittman comments after mayor’s arrest

One member of the Parkville Board of Aldermen said Monday he and other board members had not yet been briefed about Mayor Nan Johnston’s arrest early Saturday morning on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Alderman Dave Rittman said, “There’s been no notification from the city or from Nan at this point.”

RelatedNews

Two incumbent Parkville aldermen face opposition

Six candidates for two Park Hill positions

It’s about building relationships

Rittman, who commented during a telephone interview late Monday afternoon, called the mayor’s arrest early Saturday morning by a Platte County Sheriff’s Department deputy “a sad moment for everybody.”

The Landmark was the first news outlet to report Johnston’s arrest, breaking the story on Sunday at www.plattecountylandmark.com.

On Monday, Rittman said the board of aldermen is “entitled to know what’s going on. Somebody ought to be telling us something,” he said. “If not, we’re going to ask.”

City Administrator Joe Parente said in an email sent to The Landmark Tuesday afternoon: “The City of Parkville and Board of Aldermen will not be speaking about Mayor Johnston’s incident over the weekend,” he wrote. “This is the time to trust the legal process. We will continue to focus on serving Parkville residents and businesses.”

Johnston was taken into custody following an arrest by a sheriff’s deputy who observed a vehicle driven by Johnston on southbound Hwy. 9 near Eastside Drive, just north of Hwy. 45, near the Parkville city limits. According to authorities, the arresting deputy noticed erratic driving, including crossing of the center line, and stopped the driver about 1:20 a.m. Saturday.

The deputy conducted a roadside sobriety test in which Johnston’s blood alcohol content indicated a level of .110 on the portable breath test device. The mayor was taken to the Platte County jail where she was booked.

Because a portable breath test is not admissible in court, according to a sheriff’s spokesman, it is routine to conduct another test at the jail using a high-tech breath machine. That test measured .098 a little more than an hour after the car stop was conducted, the sheriff’s department says.

Missouri’s legal driving limit is .080.

Johnston, 60, posted $1,000 bond and was released about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. An initial January court date, which will likely change as the process moves forward, has been set.

Rittman said the mayor will “have to address the charges and circumstances at the appropriate time.” But he said because the mayor is an elected official, he believes the board of aldermen “has no authority.to discipline her” or take other action.

When asked about the city’s ethics commission and whether the mayor’s arrest would be a topic for the group to consider, Rittman said he had no idea.

The commission’s purpose, as described on the city’s website, is to “render advisory opinions to the board of aldermen in all ethics complaints and to investigate and report on allegations of violations of the City Code of Ethics and ordinance provisions concerning conflicts of interest and financial disclosure by all elected and appointed officials, as well as employees.”

The commission’s five members serve staggered five-year terms and the mayor appoints one member to serve as a chairperson with the other members representing one of each of the city’s four wards.

Rittman said he does not know but doubts if the commission’s duties go beyond conflicts of interest and financial disclosures.

Rittman said the ethics commission was established in 2005.

The Parkville city clerk on Tuesday told The Landmark that members of the city’s ethics commission are Chris Fisher, Deborah Butcher, Gil Scott, Jerry Felker and Peggy Parolin.

Parolin, whose name is listed as Wrightsman Parolin on a Facebook post on the Citizens for a Better Parkville page, defended Johnston and urged residents to consider the mayor’s service to the community. Parolin said Johnston has been publicly ridiculed, but did not specify for what actions.

A Platte County area resident has filed a civil suit against the city for what he states is the city’s refusal to properly release public documents under the state’s Sunshine Law, which is designed to protect transparency. Many of the communications requested involve the more than 350-acre Creekside Development, currently under construction in the city.

Parolin’s post on Facebook states: “I’ve known Nan Johnston as a person, not just as a public figure to be torn down for not pleasing everyone, for 20 years. She’s been elected twice by the citizens of Parkville. Surely there must be some good in what she’s done. While she is the mayor and public figure, let’s not forget she is human. She is one person; we are a community. Let’s work together instead of constantly tearing each other down. I’m not sure how anyone could endure what has been leveled at her. It’s not just professional; it’s become personal. She is a mother, a neighbor, and friend.just like many of you. It’s unfortunate so many who have benefitted from her efforts are those same people, perhaps unknowingly, who are intent on destroying her. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It would be interesting to see what would happen if you spent the same energy working for the good of the community as you do trashing the efforts of others.”

Parkville resident Jay Jackson responded to Parolin with a post saying: “Uber. Like the rest of us” to which Parolin agreed.

“What happened wasn’t in anyone’s best interest,” Parolin wrote. “Uber is an excellent solution.”

RELATED ARTICLES

The writing was on the wall

Mayor of Parkville arrested for DWI

Rancho Grande warned by health department
MEC says Parkville Mayor Nan Johnston broke campaign finance laws
Tags: ethicsNan Johnstonparkvilleplatte countyPublic SafetySunshine Laws
Debbie Coleman-Topi

Debbie Coleman-Topi

Debbie's journalism career began at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where she was trained.

Her works have appeared in The Kansas City Star and its Sunday magazine, The (Independence) Examiner and TWINS Magazine. Debbie has written for The Landmark for the past four years where she has reported on a wide range of Platte County area issues and people.

These include the longest-running issue of her three-decade career--a massive development in Parkville, which spawned a citizens' movement that objects to the way city officials manage the city.

She is the author of "TWINformation: The Biology, Psychology and Development of Twins”, written in response to having and raising fraternal male twins (she and her husband later welcomed a girl to the family.)

She is also the author of “Memories of A War Bride,” which chronicles the life of her husband's Godmother, a WWII English war bride.

Debbie and her husband, John, live in Blue Springs, a long car drive from events and meetings she covers for The Landmark. In fact, when she first met publisher Ivan Foley, after answering his ad for a reporter she told him she should have packed a lunch for the long journey. When she heard no response following the job interview, Debbie called to ask if Foley was not interested in her joining the staff. He was interested, but assumed the drive was too long.

Obviously, he was wrong.

Related Posts

The Conspiracy Caucus

The Conspiracy Caucus

by Ivan Foley
January 22, 2021
0

It's sunny and expected to be 55 degrees today, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. I'm ok with that. I'm old enough to remember when we had big winter snowstorms. And I hope I didn't just jinx us. I think it's fair...

Karen

Dicks and Karens

by Landmark Digital Staff
January 22, 2021
0

EDITOR: Recently I had a "Karen" moment I'm not particularly proud about. Today, as I was reading Guy Speckman's article "Sedition and Snow Fleas," in the Jan. 13, 2021 edition of the Landmark, this excerpt made me laugh out loud....

Badges

Badges, Patrick and law

by Guy Speckman
January 22, 2021
0

Welcome to January 20th. You can now wear your Christmas gifts, without people knowing they were Christmas gifts. Enjoy. No one has asked me, but I'd leave all that fence and stuff up for Kamala's inauguration. How long will she...

45 Years Ago–January 23, 1976

by Ivan Foley
January 22, 2021
0

Mr. and Mrs. Daryl Grame of Platte City announce the birth of their daughter, Stacy Dee, on Jan. 15, 1976. She weighed seven pounds 11 ounces. The grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Grame, Platte City, and Mr. and Mrs....

Next Post
COVID-19 cases in Platte County

Local COVID numbers trending upward

Popular News

  • Jakob Scroggins

    Things ‘just make sense’ for North Platte senior

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Arson, murder charges filed in deadly blaze

    24 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 6
  • Scene of fatal fire

    17 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 4
  • Want the vaccine? Complete this survey

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Weston man dead at suspicious fire scene

    22 shares
    Share 9 Tweet 6
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Subscribe Online
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved